It is officially called Colony Collapse Disorder, but a more pithy way of describing it would be Vanishing Bee Syndrome. All over America, beekeepers are opening up their hives in preparation for the spring pollination season, only to find that their bees are dead or have disappeared. Nobody, so far, knows why. The sad mystery surrounding the humble honeybee - which is a vital component in $14bn-worth of US agriculture - is beginning to worry even the highest strata of the political class in Washington. "It's not just affecting the beekeepers, it's affecting the farmers that produce the food, and in the end it's going to affect the consumer," he added, sighing deeply. What makes our interview slightly surreal is that we are standing next to an orange grove, in rural Florida, while about 70 hives of bees buzz angrily behind us, as if to emphasise their predicament. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk

Russian regional elections seen as a dress rehearsal for next year’s presidential vote handed the Kremlin’s supporters a hefty majority and squeezed out its most outspoken opponents, results showed on Monday. United Russia, a party backing President Vladimir Putin, won the biggest share of the vote in 13 of the 14 regions where elections took place on Sunday. Fair Russia, another pro-Kremlin party, led in the other region. Even before the voting started, two small opposition parties were disqualified from races in several regions. Critics said the Kremlin — already accused of backtracking on democracy — was trying to sideline its most awkward opponents. “This is managed democracy,” said Sergei Ivanyenko, deputy leader of the Yabloko party, which was ruled out of four of the nine races it tried to enter and barely scored in the remainder. “(We have) elections in name only which look like democracy, but where, in fact, the authorities hand out votes and...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17579388/

Bush is in Guatemala for a one-day visit, after a stop in Colombia where he pledged his personal support to its fight against drugs. He will discuss security, trade and immigration with Guatemala's president. This is the fourth stop in Mr Bush's tour of Latin America, which has seen protests at every stage. Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, has used a parallel tour of the region to speak out against what he calls the interference of the "American empire". Mr Chavez has arrived in Jamaica after stops in Nicaragua, Bolivia and Argentina where he started his tour last week with a massive anti-Bush rally. After a quick stop in Jamaica he moves on to Haiti later on Monday where he will discuss aid for the Caribbean nation. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6441235.stm

Fiji's former Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase says he is facing possible charges of treason following a military coup that removed him from power. Mr Qarase says he is waiting to be questioned by police over phone calls he made to the Australian and New Zealand prime ministers last year. The military government claims that during those calls he sought foreign intervention to prevent the coup. Mr Qarase denies this, saying he was seeking information on foreign aid. "All I can say is that there is no real basis for their allegations and I think it is a case of the military trying to embarrass me or persecute me or whatever," he said to Australia's national broadcaster, ABC. Anyone who initiates a foreign invasion can be charged with treason in Fiji and face a maximum sentence of life in prison. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6443087.stm

Western nations seeking tighter U.N. sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program have offered some compromises to try to overcome Chinese and Russian objections but will still face resistance when talks resume later on Monday, diplomats said.They said a proposal for a mandatory travel embargo on a list of Iranian officials had been dropped, although attempts were being made to tighten a voluntary travel ban endorsed previously. As negotiations were about to resume, U.S. officials played down the significance of an offer from Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to address the body. "I'm not sure what purpose that would serve," said State Department spokesman Tom Casey. Iranian state TV on Sunday quoted government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham saying: "The president of Iran plans to speak in a possible meeting of the Security Council on Iran's nuclear program to defend the right of the Iranian nation to use peaceful nuclear technology." ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2944193

Yemen's president said on Monday there was no room for dialogue with Shi'ite rebels fighting government forces in the north and he urged them to surrender.President Ali Abdullah Saleh's remarks came after rumors spread the rebels' leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, had proposed talks with the government to end fighting that has killed more than 350 rebels and soldiers this year. "There is no chance for dialogue or mediation," the official Saba news agency quoted Saleh as saying in a telephone conference with government, army and tribal leaders in the northern province of Saada. "They have no option but to surrender to the state; to drop their weapons and submit to law and order. They have no other option if they want to be safe and prevent bloodshed." ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2944194